Project Fast Facts
The number of low-wage jobs accessible by 30 minutes of transit travel in morning peak hours increased by 14,000 jobs in light-rail station areas and by 4,000 jobs in areas with direct light-rail bus connections after the addition of the Hiawatha line and related transit network upgrades.
After light-rail construction, low-wage workers are locating near station areas. Hiawatha and related transit upgrades are estimated to have drawn 907 low-wage workers into the Hiawatha station areas. Out of the 907 relocated workers, 78 percent moved to areas near the Cedar-Riverside, Franklin Avenue, and Lake Street-Midtown stations.
The number of low-wage jobs has increased near station areas. Hiawatha and related transit upgrades are estimated to have brought more than 5,000 low-wage jobs into areas near downtown Minneapolis and suburban Bloomington light-rail stations.

Using data collected from Northern California in 2003, this study explored the causal relationship between neighborhood design and physical activity. The combination of three key features provided a stronger assessment of causality than previous studies to date: a focus on the connection between built environment characteristics of the neighborhood and physical activity within the neighborhood, statistical control of preferences for physical activity and neighborhood design characteristics supportive of physical activity, and quasi-longitudinal measures of neighborhood design characteristics and physical activity.

South Dakota's Secretary of State, Jason Gant, is a recent entrant into the social media world. Last month, his office joined Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube after recognizing that the state leads the nation in per-capita Facebook use (according to one social media consultant), and that social media could be helpful in getting information to citizens...

A significant portion of local transportation funding comes from the property tax. The tax is conventionally assessed on both land and buildings, but transportation increases only the value of the land. A more direct, efficient way to fund transportation projects is to tax land at a higher rate than buildings. The lower tax on buildings would allow owners to retain more of the profits of their investment in construction, and have the expected side effect of increased development intensity. A partial equilibrium simulation is created for three sample cities to determine the magnitude of the intensity increase for both residential and nonresidential development if various levels of split rate property taxes were enacted.

Numerous studies have found that suburban residents drive more and walk less than residents in traditional neighbourhoods. What is less well understood is the extent to which the observed patterns of travel behaviour can be attributed to the residential built environment (BE) itself, as opposed to attitude-induced residential self-selection. To date, most studies addressing this self-selection issue fall into nine methodological categories: direct questioning, statistical control, instrumental variables, sample selection, propensity score, joint discrete choice models, structural equations models, mutually dependent discrete choice models and longitudinal designs. This paper reviews 38 empirical studies using these approaches. Virtually all of the studies reviewed found a statistically significant influence of the BE remaining after self-selection was accounted for. However, the practical importance of that influence was seldom assessed. Although time and resource limitations are…

The purpose of the 2005 Development Related Ridership Survey was to update a 16-year old study conducted by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) that surveyed the travel behavior of persons traveling to and from office, residential, hotel and retail sites near Metrorail stations. The 2005 effort sought to determine if modal splits for these land uses have changed over time and whether certain physical site characteristics still impact transit ridership. In 2005, 49 sites of the land uses listed above plus entertainment venues near 13 Metrorail stations participated in the study, which was designed to mimic the earlier efforts as a way to provide some context for comparison.

Many transportation and other infrastructure improvements are financed by taxes on property. That tax is assessed at one rate on the combined value of the land itself and the buildings.

A working paper by Jason Junge and David Levinson explores the question of what would happen if the tax rates were split and land were taxed at a higher rate while the tax on improvements was lowered.

"A parcel of land has a value based on surrounding improvements the community has made, and raising the tax on land allows the community to keep a greater portion of the value generated by public projects. Buildings have value based on the effort and expense the owners have incurred to construct them, and a corresponding decrease in the tax on improvements allows property owners to keep more of the value they have created for themselves," the authors argue.

Several benefits for the local government would accrue from the split taxes.

Abstract
Earth is a finite system with a limited supply of resources. As the human population grows, so does the appropriation of Earth’s natural capital, thereby exacerbating environmental concerns such as biodiversity loss, increased pollution, deforestation and global warming. Such concerns will negatively impact human health although it is widely believed that improving socio-economic circumstances will help to ameliorate environmental impacts and improve health outcomes. However, this belief does not explicitly acknowledge the fact that improvements in socio-economic position are reliant on increased inputs from nature. Gains in population health, particularly through economic means, are disconnected from the appropriation of nature to create wealth so that health gains become unsustainable. The current study investigated the sustainability of human population health in Canada with regard to resource consumption or “ecological footprints” (i.e., the resources required to…

OTHER VIEWS
Orlando Sunrail's Next Stop, Boondoggle Station
Daytona Beach News Journal
Volusia County Chair Jason Davis raised the hackles of some of his council colleagues recently when he went to Washington, D.C., and pitched an alternative route for the SunRail commuter line.